Method for reporting the results of specific reference-cell-based quality measurement in a mobile communication system using carrier aggregation, and apparatus for the method

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method in which a terminal reports the results of quality measurement based on a specific reference cell from among a plurality of serving cells for the terminal in a mobile communication system using carrier aggregation. The present invention also relates to a terminal apparatus for the method. For this purpose, the terminal receives measurement configuration information from a network, performs a quality measurement in accordance with the received measurement configuration information, determines whether or not a report criterion based on a specific reference cell from among the plurality of cells for the terminal is met in accordance with the measurement result, and, if the report criterion based on the specific reference cell is met, sends a report message, including the measurement results and an indicator that indicates the specific reference cell, to the network.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/574,595, filed on Jul. 20, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,891,394, whichis the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of InternationalApplication No. PCT/KR2011/000410, filed on Jan. 20, 2011, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/297,227, filed onJan. 21, 2010, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for allowing a user equipment(UE) to perform a quality measurement report on the basis of a specificreference cell from among a plurality of serving cells contained in theUE in a mobile communication system based on carrier aggregation, and aUE apparatus for the method.

BACKGROUND ART

It is necessary for the mobile communication system to support UEmobility. In order to support UE mobility, the UE persistently measuresnot only the quality of a serving cell that currently provides a servicebut also the quality of a neighbor cell of the serving cell. The UEtransmits the measurement result to the network at an appropriate time,and the network transmits a handover (HO) command and the like to the UEon the basis of the measurement result value reported by the UE andprovides optimum mobility to the UE.

In order to support UE mobility as well as to provide information thatis helpful to enterprise network management, the UE may perform ameasurement procedure having a specific purpose established in thenetwork or may report the measurement result to the network. Forexample, the UE receives broadcast information of a specific celldecided by the network. The UE may report a cell identity (also called aglobal cell ID) of the specific cell, location identificationinformation (e.g., a tracking area code) of the specific cell, and/orother cell information (e.g., indicating a member or non-member of aClosed Subscriber Group (CSG) cell to a serving cell.

If the moving UE confirms a poor quality of a specific region throughmeasurement, and may report location information and cell-qualitymeasurement results of poor-quality cells to the network. The networkmay optimize the network on the basis of the cell-quality measurementresult of UEs assisting network management.

In a mobile communication system having a frequency reuse factor of 1,mobility is mostly performed between different cells in the same band.Therefore, in order to guarantee UE mobility, the UE has to accuratelymeasure not only a quality of each neighbor cell having the sameintermediate frequency as that of the serving cell, but also each cellinformation. In this way, measurement of a cell that has the sameintermediate frequency as that of the serving cell is referred to asintra-frequency measurement. The UE performs intra-frequencymeasurement, and reports the cell quality measurement result to thenetwork at an appropriate time, such that the quality measurement resultof the corresponding cell can be achieved.

A mobile communication enterprise may operate and manage a network usinga plurality of frequency bands. In order to guarantee optimum UEmobility under the condition that a service of the communication systemis provided through multiple frequency bands, the UE has to measure notonly the quality of each neighbor cell having an intermediate frequencydifferent from that of the serving cell but also each piece of cellinformation. Likewise, measurement of a cell having an intermediatefrequency different from that of the serving cell is referred to asinter-frequency measurement. The UE performs inter-frequency measurementsuch that it has to report the cell quality measurement result to thenetwork at an appropriate time.

If the UE supports measurement of a heterogeneous network, it maymeasure the heterogeneous cell according to BS or eNB setting.Heterogeneous network measurement is referred to as inter-RAT(inter-Radio Access Technology) measurement. For example, RAT mayinclude UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) and (GSM EDGERadio Access Network (GERAN) that are based on the 3GPP standardspecification. If necessary, the RAT may further include a CDMA 200system based on the 3GPP2 standard specification.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

If a predetermined measurement report reference is satisfied uponcompletion of intra-frequency measurement, inter-frequency measurementand inter-RAT measurement, the UE may report the measurement result tothe network. In this case, a conventional measurement report referenceis mainly based on a quality value of a serving cell of the UE. However,differently from the related art in which only one serving cell can beconfigured in the UE, assuming that a plurality of serving cells can besimultaneously configured in the UE, it is not preferable that the UEmay use only the fixed serving cell as a reference for qualityestimation. On the contrary, it may be preferable that the UE maydynamically change a reference cell to be used as an estimationreference of the quality measurement result according to the purpose ofmeasurement or a UE situation.

In order to meet the above-mentioned demand, the present invention isdirected to a method for allowing a UE to efficiently performmeasurement report on the basis of a specific reference cell from amonga plurality of serving cells configured in the UE, and a UE apparatusfor the method.

Technical Solution

The object of the present invention can be achieved by providing amethod for performing, by a user equipment (UE), a quality measurementreport on the basis of a specific reference cell in a mobilecommunication system using a carrier aggregation (CA) scheme, the methodcomprising receiving measurement configuration information from anetwork; performing, by the user equipment (UE), quality measurementaccording to the received measurement configuration information;determining whether a quality measurement report criterion is satisfiedon the basis of a specific reference cell from among a plurality ofcells configured in the user equipment (UE) based upon qualitymeasurement result; and reporting a report message including the qualitymeasurement result and an indicator indicating the specific referencecell to the network if the quality measurement report criterion issatisfied on the basis of the specific reference cell.

The user equipment (UE) selects the specific reference cell according toany one scheme predetermined between the user equipment (UE) and thenetwork from among a first scheme for selecting a cell having thehighest quality from among a plurality of cells configured in the UE, asecond scheme for selecting a cell having the lowest quality from amonga plurality of cells configured in the UE, and a third scheme forallowing the UE to randomly select one of a plurality of cellsconfigured in the UE.

The received measurement configuration information includes informationregarding the scheme for enabling the UE to select the specificreference cell from among the plurality of cells configured in the userequipment (UE). The scheme for selecting the specific reference cellincludes at least one of the first scheme for selecting one cell havingthe highest quality from among the plurality of cells configured in theUE, the second scheme for selecting one cell having the lowest qualityfrom among the plurality of cells configured in the UE, and the thirdscheme for allowing the UE to randomly select one of a plurality ofcells configured in the UE.

The received measurement configuration information includes informationregarding the quality measurement report criterion. The qualitymeasurement report criterion includes at least one of a first criterion(1) in which a quality of a serving cell is better than a thresholdvalue, a second criterion (2) in which the quality of the serving cellis worse than a threshold value, a third criterion (3) in which aquality of a neighbor cell is higher than the quality of the servingcell by a measurement offset or higher, a fourth criterion (4) in whichthe quality of the serving cell is worse than a first threshold valueand the quality of the neighbor cell is better than a second thresholdvalue, and a fifth criterion (5) in which the serving cell quality isworse than the first threshold value and a neighbor cell quality of anheterogeneous network (inter-Radio Access Technology) is better than asecond threshold value, wherein the user equipment (UE) considers theserving cell for use in the first to fifth criteria (1) to (5) to be aspecific reference cell so as to determine whether the first to fifthcriteria (1) to (5) were satisfied.

The method may further include, upon receiving the measurementconfiguration information, determining whether a plurality of servingcells are configured in the UE. If the plurality of serving cells areconfigured in the user equipment (UE), the quality measurement operationand the operation of determining whether the quality measurement reportcriterion is satisfied are carried out.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for performing, bya user equipment (UE), a quality measurement report on the basis of aspecific reference cell in a mobile communication system are a carrieraggregation (CA) scheme includes receiving measurement configurationinformation from a network, wherein the measurement configurationinformation includes a measurement object, a quality measurement reportcriterion, a measurement identity for connecting the measurement objectto the quality measurement report criterion, and an identifier whichindicates a specific reference cell to be used for determining whetherthe quality measurement report criterion is satisfied from among aplurality of cells configured in the user equipment (UE); performing, bythe user equipment (UE), quality measurement according to the receivedmeasurement configuration information; determining whether a qualitymeasurement report criterion is satisfied on the basis of the specificreference cell based upon quality measurement result; and reporting areport message including the quality measurement result to the networkif the quality measurement report criterion is satisfied on the basis ofthe specific reference cell.

In another aspect of the present invention, a user equipment (UE) forperforming a quality measurement report on the basis of a specificreference cell in a mobile communication system using a carrieraggregation (CA) scheme includes a reception module configured toreceive measurement configuration information from a network; and aprocessor configured to control a quality measurement operation inresponse to the measurement configuration information received throughthe reception module, wherein the processor, if a quality measurementreport criterion is satisfied on the basis of a specific reference cellfrom among a plurality of cells configured in the user equipment (UE)upon receiving the quality measurement result, reports a report messageincluding the quality measurement result and an indicator indicating thespecific reference cell to the network.

The processor selects the specific reference serving cell according toany one scheme predetermined between the user equipment (UE) and thenetwork from among a first scheme for selecting a cell having thehighest quality from among a plurality of cells configured in the UE, asecond scheme for selecting a cell having the lowest quality from amonga plurality of cells configured in the UE, and a third scheme forallowing the UE to randomly select one of a plurality of cellsconfigured in the UE.

In another aspect of the present invention, a user equipment (UE) forperforming a quality measurement report on the basis of a specificreference cell in a mobile communication system using a carrieraggregation (CA) scheme includes a reception module configured toreceive measurement configuration information from a network, whereinthe measurement configuration information includes a measurement object,a quality measurement report criterion, a measurement identity forconnecting the measurement object to the quality measurement reportcriterion, and an identifier which indicates a specific reference cellto be used for determining whether the quality measurement reportcriterion is satisfied from among a plurality of cells configured in theuser equipment (UE); and a processor configured to control a qualitymeasurement operation in response to the measurement configurationinformation received through the reception module, wherein theprocessor, if the quality measurement report criterion is satisfied onthe basis of the specific reference cell upon receiving the qualitymeasurement result, reports a report message including the qualitymeasurement result to the network.

Advantageous Effects

The above-mentioned embodiments can allow a UE to efficiently select areference cell to be used for estimating a measurement value for aquality measurement report in a mobile communication system based oncarrier aggregation, such that the UE can share the quality measurementresult value with the eNode B (eNB) without any problems.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, illustrate embodiments of the inventionand together with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) structure as an example of amobile communication system.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a radio interface protocol structure between aUser Equipment (UE) and an E-UTRAN according to the 3GPP wireless accessnetwork standard.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating operations related to aradio link failure.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views illustrating success of RRC connectionre-establishment procedure, respectively.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a procedure of a UE for performingmeasurement and reporting a measurement result to a network in a 3GPPLTE system.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a measurement configuration assigned toa UE.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of removing a measurement identity.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of removing a measurement object.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the above-mentioned measurementoperation.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a carrier aggregationtechnology applied to the 3GPP LTE-A system.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for enabling a UEto define a cell using a carrier aggregation (CA) technology.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating a wireless communication system includinga UE device and an eNB device according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 illustrates the function of an eNB processor, especially an L2(a second layer) structure, to which the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are applied.

FIG. 19 illustrates the function of a UE processor, especially an L2 (asecond layer) structure, to which the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are applied.

BEST MODE

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. The detailed description, which will be given below withreference to the accompanying drawings, is intended to explain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention, rather than to show the onlyembodiments that can be implemented according to the invention. Forexample, although the following description assumes a 3GPP LTE basedsystem as an example of a mobile communication system, it may have awide variety of applications as a method for performing efficientmeasurement in various mobile communication systems to which a carrieraggregation technique may be applied, such as an IEEE 802.16 basedsystem.

The following detailed description includes specific details in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without such specific details. In some instances, knownstructures and devices are omitted or are shown in block diagram form,focusing on important features of the structures and devices, so as notto obscure the concept of the present invention. The same referencenumbers will be used throughout this specification to refer to the sameor like parts.

In the following description, “measurement” may be defined as measuringa quality value of the corresponding cell after receiving referencesignals from inter-frequency cells, intra-frequency cells, and inter-RATcells according to a measurement setting signal transferred from thenetwork to the UE. In the following description, the term “quality”indicates a signal quality or cell quality recognized through areference signal received from a cell serving as a measurement target.

A method for performing quality measurement report on the basis of aspecific reference cell from among a plurality of serving cellsconfigured in a UE in a mobile communication system based on carrieraggregation (CA) technology and a UE device for the method willhereinafter be described with reference to the annexed drawings. As arepresentative example of a wireless communication system of the presentinvention, a 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution(3GPP LTE) communication system will hereinafter be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) structure as an example of amobile communication system. The E-UTRAN system is an evolved version ofthe conventional UTRAN system, and basic standardization thereof is nowbeing conducted by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). E-UMTSmay also be referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The E-UTRAN includes one or more cells that will also be referred to as“eNode B(s)” or “eNB(s)”. The eNBs are connected through an X2interface. Each eNB is connected to the User Equipment (UE) through aradio interface and is connected to an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) throughan S1 interface.

The EPC may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME), aServing-Gateway (S-GW), and a Packet Data Network-Gateway (PDN-GW). TheMME may include UE access information or UE capability information, andthis information is generally adapted to manage UE mobility. The S-GW isa gateway in which the E-UTRAN is located at an end point, and thePDN-GW is a gateway in which a Packet Data Network (PDN) is located atan end point.

Radio interface protocol layers between the UE and the network areclassified into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a thirdlayer (L3) on the basis of three lower layers of an Open SystemInterconnection (OSI) reference model well known in the field ofcommunication systems. The first layer (L1) provides an informationtransfer service using a physical channel. A radio resource control(RRC) layer located at the third layer (L3) controls radio resourcesbetween the UE and the network. For this operation, the RRC layerexchanges the RRC message between the UE and the network.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a radio interface protocol structure between aUser Equipment (UE) and an E-UTRAN according to the 3GPP wireless accessnetwork standard.

A radio interface protocol includes a physical layer, a data link layer,and a network layer in a horizontal direction. In a vertical direction,the radio interface protocol includes a user plane (U-plane) fortransmitting data information and a control plane (C-plane) fortransmitting a control signal (i.e., a signaling message). The protocollayers shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be classified into a first layer (L1),a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) on the basis of the threelower layers of an Open System Interconnection (OSI) reference modelwell known in the field of communication systems. The UE and the E-UTRANinclude a pair of such radio protocol layers, and are used to transmitdata via an air interface.

The following is a detailed description of layers of the control plane(shown in FIG. 2) and user plane (shown in FIG. 3) in a radio interfaceprotocol.

The physical layer, which is the first layer, provides an informationtransfer service to an upper layer using a physical channel. Thephysical layer is connected to a Medium Access Control (MAC) layerserving as an upper layer over a transport channel. Data is transferredfrom the MAC layer to the physical layer or the transport channel, or isalso transferred from the physical layer to the MAC layer. In addition,data is transferred between different physical layers over the physicalchannel. In other words, data is transferred from a transmittingphysical layer to a receiving physical layer over the physical channel.The above-mentioned physical channel is modulated according to anorthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, so that thephysical channel uses time and frequency information as radio resources.

The MAC layer of the second layer (L2) transmits services to a RadioLink Control (RLC) layer serving as an upper layer over a logicalchannel. The RLC layer of the second layer (L2) supports reliable datatransmission. The RLC layer function may be implemented as a functionalblock contained in the MAC layer. In this case, the RLC layer may not bepresent. A Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer of the secondlayer (L2) performs a header compression function to reduce the size ofan IP packet header having relatively large and unnecessary controlinformation in order to efficiently transmit IP packets such as IPv4 orIPv6 packets in a radio interval with a narrow bandwidth.

The radio resource control (RRC) layer located at the bottom of thethird layer (L3) is defined on a control plane only. In association withconfiguration, re-configuration, and release of radio bearers (RBs), theRRC layer controls the logical channel, the transport channel, and thephysical channels. In this case, the above radio bearer (RB) is providedfrom the second layer (L2) to perform data communication between the UEand the UTRAN. If an RRC connection is located between the RRC layer ofthe UE and the RRC layer of the radio network, the UE stays in an RRCconnected (RRC_CONNECTED) state. Otherwise, the UE stays in an RRC idle(RRC_IDEL) state.

There are a variety of downlink transport channels for transmitting datafrom the network to the UE, for example, a broadcast channel (BCH) fortransmitting system information, and a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH)for transmitting user traffic or control messages. Traffic or controlmessages of a downlink multicast or a broadcast service may betransmitted over a downlink shared channel (SCH) or a downlink multicastchannel (MCH). In the meantime, there are a variety of uplink transportchannels for transmitting data from the UE to the network, for example,a random access channel (RACH) for transmitting initial controlmessages, and an uplink shared channel for transmitting user traffic orcontrol messages.

A variety of logical channels are located on the transport channel, andare mapped to the transport channel. For example, the logical channelsmay be a broadcast channel (BCCH), a paging control channel (PCCH), acommon control channel (CCCH), a multicast control channel (MCCH), and amulticast traffic channel (MTCH).

A physical channel includes a plurality of subframes on the time axisand a plurality of subcarriers on the frequency axis. Here, one subframeincludes a plurality of symbols on the time axis. One subframe includesa plurality of resource blocks and one resource block includes aplurality of symbols and a plurality of subcarriers. Each subframe canuse specific subcarriers of a specific symbol (e.g., a first symbol) ofthe subframe for a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (i.e., anL1/L2 control channel). Each subframe is 0.5 ms long. A TransmissionTime Interval (TTI), which is a unit time during which data istransmitted, is 1 ms.

System information will hereinafter be described in detail. The systeminformation includes requisite information that must be recognized bythe UE that desires to access a base station (BS). Accordingly, the UEmust receive all the system information before accessing the BS, andmust always include the latest system information. In addition, thesystem information must be recognized by all UEs contained in one cell,such that the BS periodically transmits the system information.

The system information is classified into a master information block(MIB), a scheduling block (SB), a system information block (SIB), etc.The MIB enables a UE to recognize physical configuration information(e.g., a bandwidth) of the corresponding cell. The SB includestransmission information such as a transmission period of each SIB. TheSIB is an aggregate (or a set) of mutually-associated systeminformation. For example, a certain SIB includes only information of aneighbor cell, and a certain SIB includes only information of an uplinkradio channel used in the UE.

Services that the network provides to the UE may be classified into 3types. The UE identifies the type of a cell differently according towhich services the UE can receive from the cell. First, the servicetypes are described as follows and then the types of the cell aredescribed.

1) Limited service: This service provides an emergency call and an ETWSand can be provided by an acceptable cell.

2) Normal service: This is a general service for public use and can beprovided by a suitable cell.

3) Operator service: This is a service for a communication networkprovider and a corresponding cell can be used only by the communicationnetwork provider and cannot be used by a general user.

The types of cells can be classified as follows in association with thetypes of services provided by the cells.

1) Acceptable cell: This is a cell from which the UE can receive alimited service. This cell is not barred for the UE and satisfies cellselection criteria for the UE.

2) Suitable cell: This is a cell from which the UE can receive a normalservice. This cell satisfies acceptable cell conditions while satisfyingadditional conditions. The additional conditions include a conditionthat the cell belongs to a PLMN that can be accessed by the UE and acondition that, in the cell, the UE is not prohibited from performing atracking area update procedure. If the cell is a CSG cell, it isrequired that the UE be able to access the cell as a CSG member.

3) Barred cell: This is a cell that broadcasts information indicatingthat it is a barred cell through system information.

4) Reserved cell: This is a cell that broadcasts information indicatingthat it is a reserved cell through system information.

An RRC state of a UE and an RRC connection method for the same aredescribed below. The RRC state indicates whether or not an RRC layer ofthe UE is logically connected to an RRC layer of the E-UTRAN. It isstated that the UE is in an RRC_connected state when there is a logicalconnection between the RRC layer of the UE and the RRC layer of theE-UTRAN and that the UE is in an RRC_idle state when there is no logicalconnection therebetween. When the UE is in an RRC_connected state, theE-UTRAN can determine presence or absence of the UE on a cell basissince there is an RRC connection between the UE and the E-UTRAN andtherefore can easily control the UE. On the other hand, when the UE isin an RRC_idle state, the E-UTRAN cannot determine presence or absenceof the UE and manage a core network on the basis of a tracking areawhich is an area unit greater than the cell. That is, when the UE is inan RRC_idle state, the presence or absence of the UE is determined onlyon a large area basis and the UE needs to shift to an RRC_connectedstate in order to receive a general mobile communication service such asa voice or data service.

When the user initially powers the UE on, first, the UE searches for anappropriate cell and then remains in an RRC_idle state in the cell. Whenthe UE needs to establish an RRC connection while the UE remains in anRRC_idle state, the UE shifts to an RRC_connected state by establishingan RRC connection with the E-UTRAN through an RRC connection procedure.In various cases, there may be a need to establish an RRC connectionwhile the UE is in an idle state. For example, the UE may need toestablish an RRC connection when there is a need to transmit uplink databecause of the user's attempt to call or when there is a need totransmit a response message in response to a paging message receivedfrom the E-UTRAN.

A Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer which is located above the RRC layerperforms functions such as session management and mobility management.

In the NAS layer, two states, an EPS Mobility Management-registered(EMM-registered) state and an EMM-deregistered state, are defined inorder to manage mobility of the UE. These two states are applied to theUE and the MME. Initially, the UE is in an EMM-deregistered state. Here,the UE performs a procedure for registering the UE in a network throughan initial attach procedure in order to access the network. When theattach procedure has been successfully performed, the UE and the MMEenter an EMM-registered state.

Two states, an EPS Connection Management (ECM)-idle state and anECM-connected state, are defined in order to manage signaling connectionbetween the UE and the EPC. These two states are applied to the UE andthe MME. If the UE establishes an RRC connection with the E-UTRAN whenthe UE is in an ECM-idle state, the UE enters an ECM-connected state. Ifthe MME establishes an S1 connection with the E-UTRAN when the MME is inan ECM-idle state, the MME enters an ECM-connected state. When the UE isin an ECM-idle state, the E-UTRAN does not have context information ofthe UE. Therefore, the UE performs a UE-based mobility related proceduresuch as cell selection or reselection without the need to receive acommand from the network. On the other hand, when the UE is in anECM-connected state, mobility of the UE is managed by a command from thenetwork. When the position of the UE has changed from that known by thenetwork while the UE is in an ECM-idle state, the UE notifies thenetwork of the changed position of the UE through a tracking area updateprocedure.

The following is a description of a radio link failure procedure in a3GPP LTE system.

A UE constantly performs measurement in order to maintain the quality ofa communication link with a cell which currently provides a service tothe UE. Specifically, the UE determines whether or not the quality ofthe communication link with the cell that currently provides a serviceto the UE is bad to the extent that communication is impossible. Upondetermining that the quality of the communication link is bad to theextent that communication is impossible, the UE declares radio linkfailure. If the UE declares radio link failure, the UE gives up keepingthe communication with the cell and then attempts RRC connectionre-establishment after selecting a cell through a cell selectionprocedure. Operations associated with such radio link failure may beperformed in two steps as shown in FIG. 4.

In the first step, the UE checks if there is a problem in a currentcommunication link. If there is a problem, the UE declares a radio linkproblem and awaits recovery of the communication link for apredetermined time of T1. If the link is recovered within the time T1,the UE continues normal operation. If the radio link problem is notsolved within the time T1, the UE declares radio link failure and entersthe second step. In the second step, the UE performs an RRC connectionre-establishment procedure for recovery from radio link failure.

The RRC connection re-establishment procedure is a procedure forre-establishing an RRC connection in an RRC_connected state. The UE doesnot initialize all radio settings (for example, radio bearer setting) ofthe UE since the UE remains in an RRC_connected state, i.e., since theUE does not enter an RRC_idle state. Instead, the UE suspends use of allradio bearers excluding SRB0 when starting the RRC connectionre-establishment procedure. If RRC connection re-establishment issuccessful, the UE resumes using the radio bearers, the use of which hasbeen suspended.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the case in which an RRC connectionre-establishment procedure is successful and the case in which an RRCconnection re-establishment procedure has failed.

How a UE operates in the RRC connection re-establishment procedure isdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. First, the UE performsa cell selection procedure to select one cell. The UE receives systeminformation in order to receive basic parameters for cell access fromthe selected cell. Then, the UE attempts RRC connection re-establishmentthrough a random access procedure. When the cell that the UE hasselected through cell selection is a cell (i.e., a prepared cell) whichhas context of the UE, the cell can accept the RRC connectionre-establishment request of the UE, resulting in that the RRC connectionre-establishment procedure is successful. However, when the cellselected by the UE is not a prepared cell, the cell cannot accept theRRC connection re-establishment request of the UE since the cell has nocontext of the UE, resulting in failure of the RRC connectionre-establishment procedure.

Hereinafter, a quality measurement procedure in a 3GPP LTE system willbe described.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a procedure of a UE for performingmeasurement and reporting a measurement result to a network in a 3GPPLTE system.

Referring to FIG. 7, a UE receives measurement configuration informationfrom a BS (step S710). A message including the measurement configurationinformation is referred to as a measurement configuration message. TheUE performs measurement based on the measurement configurationinformation (step S720). If a measurement result satisfies a reportingcondition included in the measurement configuration information, the UEreports the measurement result to the BS (step S730). A messageincluding the measurement result is referred to as a measurement reportmessage.

On the other hand, the measurement configuration message received fromthe BS may have the following structure.

TABLE 1  RRCConnectionReconfiguration-r8-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { measConfigMeasConfig OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON } MeasConfig ::= SEQUENCE { --Measurement objects measObjectToRemoveList MeasObjectToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measObjectToAddModList MeasObjectToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Reporting configurationsreportConfigToRemoveList ReportConfigToRemoveList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONreportConfigToAddModList ReportConfigToAddModList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ON-- Measurement identities measIdToRemoveList MeasIdToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measIdToAddModList MeasIdToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Other parameters quantityConfig QuantityConfigOPTIONAL,  -- Need ON measGapConfig MeasGapConfig  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONs-Measure RSRP-Range OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON preRegistrationInfoHRPDPreRegistrationInfoHRPD  OPTIONAL, -- Need OP speedStatePars CHOICE { release NULL,  setup SEQUENCE { mobilityStateParametersMobilityStateParameters, timeToTrigger-SF SpeedStateScaleFactors  } }OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON ... }

The measurement configuration information contained in the measurementconfiguration message shown in Table 1 may include the followinginformation.

(1) Measurement object information: This information denotes an objectthat the UE measures. The measurement object includes at least one of anintra-frequency measurement object which is an object of intra-frequencymeasurement, an inter-frequency measurement object which is an object ofinter-frequency measurement, and an inter-RAT measurement object whichis an object of inter-RAT measurement. For example, the intra-frequencymeasurement object may indicate a neighbor cell having the samefrequency band as a frequency band of a serving cell, theinter-frequency measurement object may indicate a neighbor cell having adifferent frequency band from a frequency band of the serving cell, andthe inter-RAT measurement object may indicate a neighbor cell of adifferent RAT from an RAT of the serving cell.

(2) Reporting configuration information: This information denotes areporting condition and a reporting type regarding when the UE reports ameasurement result. The reporting condition may include information on aperiod or an event for triggering reporting of the measurement result.The reporting type is information indicating a particular type accordingto how to configure the measurement result.

(3) Measurement identity information: This information denotes ameasurement identifier for determining when the UE will reportmeasurement with respect to any measurement object by associating themeasurement object with a reporting configuration, and which type ofreporting is used by UE. The measurement identity information may beincluded in the measurement report message to indicate which measurementobject the measurement result is about and which reporting condition wasused.

(4) Quantity configuration information: This information denotes ameasurement unit, a reporting unit, and/or a parameter for determiningfiltering of a measurement result value.

(5) Measurement gap information: This information denotes a measurementgap which is a duration that may be used by the UE only for measurementwithout any consideration of data transmission to a serving cell whendownlink transmission or uplink transmission is not scheduled.

To perform a measurement procedure, the UE may have a measurement objectlist, a measurement reporting configuration list, and a measurementidentity list.

In 3GPP LTE, the BS may assign only one measurement object to the UEwith respect to one frequency band. Events for triggering measurementreporting shown in the following table below are defined in section5.5.4 of 3GPP TS 36.331 V8.5.0 (2009-03) “Evolved Universal TerrestrialRadio Access (E-UTRA) Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocolspecification (Release 8)”.

TABLE 2 Event Reporting Condition Event A1 Serving becomes better thanthreshold Event A2 Serving becomes worse than threshold Event A3Neighbor becomes offset better than serving Event A4 Neighbor becomesbetter than threshold Event A5 Serving becomes worse than threshold1 andneighbor becomes better than threshold2 Event B1 Inter RAT neighborbecomes better than threshold Event B2 Serving becomes worse thanthreshold1 and inter RAT neighbor becomes better than threshold2

If the measurement result of the UE satisfies the determined event, theUE transmits a measurement report message to the BS.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a measurement configuration assigned toa UE.

In FIG. 8, a measurement identity 1 associates an intra-frequencymeasurement object with a reporting configuration 1. The UE performsintra-frequency measurement. The reporting configuration 1 is used todetermine a reporting type and a criterion for reporting a measurementresult.

A measurement identity 2 is associated with the intra-frequencymeasurement object similarly to the measurement identity 1 butassociates the intra-frequency measurement object with a reportingconfiguration 2. The UE performs intra-frequency measurement. Thereporting configuration 2 is used to determine a reporting type and acriterion for reporting a measurement result.

By the measurement identity I and the measurement identity 2, the UE maytransmit a measurement result to a network even if the measurementresult of the intra-frequency measurement object satisfies any one ofthe reporting configuration 1 and the reporting configuration 2.

A measurement identity 3 associates an inter-frequency measurementobject 1 with a reporting configuration 3. If a measurement result ofthe inter-frequency measurement object 1 satisfies a reporting conditionincluded in the reporting configuration 3, the UE may report themeasurement result to the network.

A measurement identity 4 associates an inter-frequency measurementobject 2 with the reporting configuration 2. When a measurement resulton the inter-frequency measurement object 2 satisfies a reportingcondition included in the reporting configuration 2, the UE may reportthe measurement result to the network.

Meanwhile, the measurement object, the reporting configuration, and/orthe measurement identity may be added, modified and/or removed, bytransmitting a new measurement configuration message or a measurementconfiguration modification message to the UE by the BS.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of removing a measurement identity.

In FIG. 9, “NW command” may be a measurement configuration message or ameasurement configuration modification message instructing a UE toremove a measurement identity 2. When the measurement identity 2 isremoved, measurement of a measurement object associated with themeasurement identity 2 is stopped, and a measurement report is nottransmitted. However, a measurement object or a reporting configurationassociated with the removed measurement identity may not be modified.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of removing a measurement object.

In FIG. 10, “NW command” may be a measurement configuration message or ameasurement configuration modification message instructing a UE that aninter-frequency measurement object 1 be removed. If the inter-frequencymeasurement object 1 is removed, the UE may also remove a measurementidentify 3 associated therewith. Measurement of the inter-frequencymeasurement object 1 is stopped, and a measurement report may not betransmitted. However, a reporting configuration associated with theremoved inter-frequency measurement object 1 may not be modified orremoved.

When the reporting configuration is removed, the UE also removes anassociated measurement identity. The UE suspends measurement reportingand measurement of an associated measurement object according to theassociated measurement identity. However, a measurement objectassociated with the removed reporting configuration may not be modifiedor removed.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the above-mentioned measurementoperation.

Referring to FIG. 11, the UE can receive measurement configurationinformation from the eNode B (network) in step S1101. In associationwith Table 1, the measurement configuration information may includemeasurement object information, reporting configuration information,measurement identity information, quantity configuration information,and measurement gap information. In addition, in association with FIGS.9 and 19, the measurement configuration information may include specificmeasurement object information and/or specific measurement identitydeletion/addition information, and the like.

The UE can perform quality measurement in response to the receivedmeasurement configuration information in step S1102. The UE can measurea measurement result evaluation procedure to determine whether thequality measurement result value meets the quality report criterion instep S1103. In this case, the evaluation criterion may use theabove-mentioned schemes shown in Table 2. If the measurement resultsatisfies the report criterion in step S1104, the UE constructsmeasurement report information including the measurement result in stepS1105 and transmits the measurement report information to the eNode B(network) in step S1106. Examples of the measurement report message foruse in the 3GPP LTE system are as follows.

TABLE 3 MeasResults ::= SEQUENCE { measId MeasId, measResultServCellSEQUENCE { rsrpResult RSRP-Range, rsrqResult RSRQ-Range },measResultNeighCells CHOICE { measResultListEUTRA SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxCellReport)) OF physCellId PhysCellId, measResult SEQUENCE {rsrpResult RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, rsrqResult RSRQ-Range OPTIONAL, ..., } }

The following information can be contained in the measurement reportmessage shown in Table 3, and a detailed description thereof will bedescribed below.

Measurement Identity:

The measurement identity is associated with report configurationsatisfying the reporting criterion. Through the measurement identity,the network can recognize which criterion was used to transmit themeasurement report received from a UE.

Quality Value of the Measured Serving Cell:

This information denotes a quality value of the serving cell measured bya UE.

Information of the Measured Neighbor Cell:

This information denotes a measurement identity of a neighbor cellmeasured by a UE.

Neighbor Cell Identity:

This information denotes a physical cell identity (e.g., PCI forE-UTRAN) of a neighbor cell satisfying the reporting criterion.

Quality Value of Neighbor Cell:

This information denotes a quality value (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) of aneighbor cell satisfying the reporting criterion.

In accordance with the above-mentioned examples, the UE efficientlymeasures a quality of the serving cell and/or the neighbor cell, andreports the measured quality to the eNode B, such that it can guaranteeUE mobility. However, one embodiment of the present invention providesnot only the above-mentioned measurement operation but also an efficientquality measurement operation by the UE which simultaneously includes aplurality of serving cells. For this purpose, the present inventionprovides a carrier aggregation (CA) technology which is beingintensively discussed in the 3GPP LTE-A standard as an exemplary case inwhich the UE includes a plurality of serving cells.

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a carrier aggregationtechnology applied to the 3GPP LTE-A system.

The LTE-A technology standard is IMT-Advanced candidate technology ofthe International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is designed to meetthe requirements of the IMT-Advanced technology of the ITU. In theLTE-A, in order to satisfy the requirements of the ITU, extension of abandwidth of the existing LTE system is being discussed. In the LTE-Asystem, in order to extend bandwidth, a carrier of the existing LTEsystem is defined as a Component Carrier (CC) and a method ofaggregating and utilizing a maximum of five CCs is being discussed.Since the CC may have a maximum bandwidth of 20 MHz as in the LTEsystem, the bandwidth may extend to 100 MHZ at maximum. Carrieraggregation is a technique for aggregating a plurality of CCs.

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for enabling a UEto define a cell using a carrier aggregation (CA) technology.

If the carrier aggregation (CA) technology is used as shown in FIG. 12,each of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) may include a plurality of CCs. Inthe CA system, from the viewpoint of the UE, a combination (Cell 0 ofFIG. 13) of DL CC and UL CC, or only DL CC (Cell 1 of FIG. 13) may beconsidered to be a cell. As can be seen from FIG. 13, linkage between DLCC and UL CC may be indicated by system information transmitted throughDL resources. That is, the system information of the CA based mobilecommunication system further includes information regarding the linkagerelationship between UL CC and DL CC, as represented by SIB2 linkageshown in FIG. 13.

On the other hand, the LTE-A system discriminates some CCs through whichall control signaling is transmitted from other CCs, and eachdiscriminated CC is referred to as a primary CC. UL primary CC and DLprimary CC are configured in each UE. A combination of UL primary CCused for transmission of UL control information and DL primary CC usedfor transmission of DL control information may be referred to as aprimary cell or PCell. The remaining cells configured in the UE otherthan the primary cell (or PCell) may be referred to as secondary cells(or SCells).

When the UE for use in the above-mentioned CA based mobile communicationsystem determines whether the quality measurement result satisfies thereporting criterion, the UE selects a specific reference cell from amonga plurality of UE-configured cells and uses the selected reference cellto determine whether the quality measurement result satisfies thereporting criterion. In addition, the above-mentioned embodiment for usein the CA based mobile communication system informs the eNode B ofinformation regarding a reference cell used by a UE so as to preventmisunderstanding of the eNode B.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 14, the UE can receive measurement configurationinformation from the eNode B (network) in step S1401. In associationwith Table 1, the measurement configuration information may includemeasurement object information, reporting configuration information,measurement identity information, quantity configuration information,and measurement gap information. In addition, in association with FIGS.9 and 10, the measurement configuration information may include specificmeasurement object information and/or specific measurement identitydeletion/addition information, and the like.

The UE can perform quality measurement in response to the receivedmeasurement configuration information in step S1402. The UE can measurea measurement result evaluation procedure to determine whether thequality measurement result value meets the quality report criterion instep S1403. This embodiment of the present invention provides a methodfor allowing a UE to determine whether the measured quality valuesatisfies a measurement report criterion on the basis of a specificreference cell from among a plurality of UE-configured cells. In thiscase, various reference cells capable of being used by the UE are asfollows.

(1) Reference Cell Selection Reference 1:

Whenever a UE evaluates a measurement value, a cell having the bestquality from among measurement values of a plurality of reference cellsis determined to be a reference cell.

(2) Reference Cell Selection Reference 2:

Whenever a UE evaluates a measurement value, a cell having the lowestquality from among measurement values of a plurality of reference cellsis determined to be a reference cell.

(3) Reference Cell Selection Reference 3:

Whenever a UE evaluate a measurement value, the UE can randomly select areference cell from among a plurality of reference cells.

In this case, the evaluation criterion may be selected from amongvarious schemes shown in Table 2. In accordance with this embodiment,the UE may select a reference cell selected by any one of theabove-mentioned references 1 to 3 to be the serving cell of Table 2, andevaluate the selected cell.

In more detail, if a measurement value of a specific reference cellselected by the UE is better than a predetermined threshold value, theUE may report the measurement report to the eNode B. For example, thefollowing measurement reporting events can be used as the reportcriteria.

TABLE 4 Event A1 (Reference becomes better than threshold) Event A2(Reference becomes worse than threshold)

On the other hand, if a measurement value of a specific reference cellselected by the UE is worse than that of the neighbor cell, the UE canalso report the measurement result to the eNode B. For example, thefollowing measurement report events can be used as the report criteria.

TABLE 5 Event A3 (Neighbor becomes offset better than the Reference)Event A5 (Reference becomes worse than threshold1 and neighbor becomesbetter than threshold2) Event B2 (Reference becomes worse thanthreshold1 and inter RAT neighbor becomes better than threshold2)

If the measurement result satisfies the above-mentioned report criterionin step S1404, the UE constructs measurement report informationincluding the measurement result, and an identity (or identifier) of areference cell used for evaluation of the measurement result is includedin the measurement report information in step S1405. This embodimentassumes that the eNode B is unable to recognize a reference cell usedfor evaluation of the measurement value, and an example of themeasurement report message according to the embodiment is as follows.

TABLE 6 MeasResults ::= SEQUENCE { measId MeasId, measResultServCellSEQUENCE { rsrpResult RSRP-Range, rsrqResult RSRQ-Range },measResultNeighCells CHOICE { measResultListEUTRA SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxCellReport)) OF physCellId PhysCellId, measResult SEQUENCE {rsrpResult RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, rsrqResult RSRQ-Range OPTIONAL, ..., }measRefId CellIdentifier }

That is, a measurement-value-evaluation reference serving cell identityfield (“measRefID” field of Table 6) is added to the measurement reportmessage shown in Table 3, and the UE may inform the eNode B of anidentity (or identifier) of a cell which was used as a reference servingcell for the measurement value evaluation. In this case,“CellIdentifier” may denote an identifier of a serving cell, anidentifier of a physical cell, or any other equivalent cell identifieraccording to the embodiments. If only the serving cell of the UE can beused as a provisional reference cell of the UE, “CellIdentifier” maydenote the identifier of the serving cell.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 15, the UE receives measurement configurationinformation from the eNode B (network) in step S1501. In this case, thereceived measurement configuration information may be configured in theform of a message which further includes information of a reference celldetermination scheme used for evaluation of the measurement result instep S1501. For example, an example of the measurement configurationinformation message transferred from the UE to the eNode B is asfollows.

TABLE 7 RRCConnectionReconfiguration-r8-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { measConfig MeasConfig OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON } MeasConfig ::=  SEQUENCE { --Measurement objects measObjectToRemoveList MeasObjectToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measObjectToAddModList MeasObjectToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Reporting configurationsreportConfigToRemoveList  ReportConfigToRemoveList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONreportConfigToAddModList  ReportConfigToAddModList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ON-- Measurement identities measIdToRemoveList MeasIdToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measIdtoAddModList MeasIdToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Other parameters quantityConfig QuantityConfigOPTIONAL,  -- Need ON measGapConfig  MeasGapConfig  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONs-Measure RSRP-Range OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON preRegistrationInfoHRPDPreRegistrationInfoHRPD  OPTIONAL, -- Need OP speedStatePars CHOICE { release NULL,  setup  SEQUENCE { mobilityStateParameters MobilityStateParameters, timeToTrigger-SF SpeedStateScaleFactors  } }OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON referenceCellSelectionRule ENUMERATED {  bestcell, worst cell,random cell,  spare1} OPTIONAL, -- Need ON ... }

In more detail, if the above-mentioned measurement configurationinformation message shown in Table 1 further includes a specific field(referenceCellSelectionRule) indicating the scheme for selecting areference cell to be used for evaluation of the measurement value, a newmeasurement configuration information message shown in table 7 can beimplemented. As the reference cell selection criteria to be used forevaluating the measurement value, the above-mentioned reference cellselection criteria (1) to (3) can be used. In more detail, “Best Cell”may indicate a scheme in which one cell having the best quality fromamong measurement values of a plurality of reference cells is determinedto be a reference cell whenever the UE evaluates the measurement value.“Worst Cell” may indicate a scheme in which one cell having the worstquality from among measurement values of a plurality of reference cellsis determined to be a reference cell whenever the UE evaluates themeasurement value. “Random Cell” may indicate a scheme in which the UEcan randomly select a reference cell from among a plurality of referencecells whenever the UE evaluates the measurement value. In thisembodiment, “referenceCellSelectionRule” field is optional (See“OPTIONAL” of Table 7). If the “referenceCellSelectionRule” field isomitted from the measurement configuration information message, the UEmay not select/use the reference cell when evaluating the measurementresult (See “Need ON(Optionally No-action)” of Table 7). In FIG. 15, theremaining operations other than the above-mentioned operations maycorrespond to the operations of FIG. 14, and as such a detaileddescription thereof will herein be omitted for the convenience ofdescription.

In accordance with another embodiment, the eNode B can provideinformation regarding a reference cell to be used for evaluation of themeasurement result to the UE in a similar way to the above-mentionedembodiment shown in FIG. 15. In more detail, in accordance with anotherembodiment, the eNode B can provide identifier information capable ofspecifying a reference cell to the UE. In accordance with thisembodiment, the measurement configuration message transmitted from theUE to the eNode B is as follows.

TABLE 8 RRCConnectionReconfiguration-r8-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { measConfigMeasConfig OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON } MeasConfig ::= SEQUENCE { --Measurement objects measObjectToRemoveList MeasObjectToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measObjectToAddModLis MeasObjectToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Reporting configurationsreportConfigToRemoveList ReportConfigToRemoveList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONreportConfigToAddModList ReportConfigToAddModList  OPTIONAL, -- Need ON-- Measurement identities measIdToRemoveList MeasIdToRemoveList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON measIdToAddModList MeasIdToAddModList OPTIONAL, -- Need ON -- Other parameters quantityConfig QuantityConfigOPTIONAL,  -- Need ON measGapConfig MeasGapConfig  OPTIONAL, -- Need ONs-Measure RSRP-Range OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON preRegistrationInfoHRPDPreRegistrationInfoHRPD  OPTIONAL, -- Need OP speedStatePars CHOICE { release NULL,  setup SEQUENCE { mobilityStateParametersMobilityStateParameters, timeToTrigger-SF SpeedStateScaleFactors  } }OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON referenceCell CellIdentifier OPTIONAL,  -- Need ON... }

That is, this embodiment provides a method for allowing the eNode B todirectly inform the UE of the identifier of the reference cell throughthe “referenceCell” field, differently from Table 7. In this case,according to the embodiments, “CellIdentifier” may denote a serving cellID, a physical cell ID, or any other equivalent cell ID. If only theserving cell of the UE can be used as a provisional reference cell ofthe UE, “CellIdentifier” may denote the serving cell ID.

In addition, according to this embodiment, when the UE reports themeasurement result to the eNode B, the UE need not inform the eNode B ofan ID of the reference cell used for evaluation of the measurementvalue. That is, the UE operation of informing the eNode B of thereference cell ID may be limited to the case in which the eNode B isunable to recognize the reference cell ID.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method for enabling a UE toperform quality measurement report on the basis of a specific referencecell in a CA based mobile communication system according to theabove-mentioned embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 16, the UE can receive measurement configurationinformation from the eNode B in step S1601. In this case, themeasurement configuration information may include information regardinga reference cell selection scheme to be used for evaluation of themeasurement result by the UE as shown in Table 7. In still anotherembodiment, although the UE can receive a measurement configurationmessage including a reference cell ID as shown in Table 8, it is assumedthat the eNode B provides only information of the reference cellselection rule. The UE can perform quality measurement according to thereceived measurement configuration information in step S1602.

Thereafter, the UE according to one embodiment of the present inventioncan determine whether several cells were configured in the UE in stepS1603. If several cells were not configured in the UE in step S1603, theUE evaluates the measurement result according to the receivedmeasurement configuration information in step S1607. Otherwise, ifseveral cells were configured in the UE in step S1603, the UE candetermine a reference cell to be used for evaluation of the measurementresult according to the reference cell selection rule received at stepS1601 (Step S1604). The UE can apply the determined reference cell tothe criteria shown in Tables 4 and 5, such that the UE can perform themeasurement result evaluation on the basis of the determined referencecell in step S1605.

If the measurement result meets the report criterion in step S1606, theUE can construct measurement report information including themeasurement result value in step S1608. If the eNode B is unable torecognize reference cell information used by the UE evaluating themeasurement result, the UE may include an ID of the reference cell usedfor evaluation of the measurement result in the measurement reportmessage in step S1609. The measurement report message may be configuredin the form of a structure shown in Table 6.

In accordance with this embodiment, since the UE performs qualitymeasurement reporting in step S1610, the UE can flexibly report thequality measurement result in the CA based mobile communication systemand can guarantee UE mobility without causing misunderstanding of theeNode B.

A UE device and an eNB device for performing the above-mentioned qualitymeasurement reporting mechanism according to another aspect of thepresent invention will hereinafter be described in detail.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating a wireless communication system includinga UE device and an eNB device according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 17, the UE device may include a reception (Rx) module1111, a transmission (Tx) module 1112, a processor 1113, and a memory1114. The reception (Rx) module 1111 may receive various signals, data,information, etc. from the eNB or the like. The transmission (Tx) module1112 may transmit various signals, data, information, etc. to the eNB orthe like. The processor 1113 can control the quality measurementoperation through the received measurement configuration informationreceived through the Rx module 1111. In more detail, if the qualitymeasurement result satisfies a quality measurement report criterion onthe basis of a specific reference cell from among a plurality ofUE-configured cells, the processor 1113 may report the report messageincluding not only the quality measurement result but also an indicatorindicating a specific reference cell to the network.

On the other hand, the eNB device may include a reception (Rx) module1131, a transmission (Tx) module 1132, a processor 11330, and a memory1134. The Rx module 1131 may receive various signals, data, information,etc. from the UE or the like. The Tx module 1132 may transmit varioussignals, data, information, etc. to the UE or the like.

The processor 1133 can control the Tx module 1132 to transmitconfiguration information of a specific CC from among a plurality ofCCs, and can manage mobility of the corresponding UE through themeasurement report message received from the UE. The processor 1133 mayarithmetically perform processing of information received in the ABS,information to be transmitted externally, and the like. The memory 1134may store arithmetically-processed information for a predetermined time,and be replaced with any other constituent element such as a buffer (notshown).

The processor 1113 and 1133 from among various constituent components ofthe UE and eNB devices will hereinafter be described in detail.

FIG. 18 illustrates the function of an eNB processor, especially an L2(a second layer) structure, to which the exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention are applied. FIG. 19 illustrates the function of a UEprocessor, especially an L2 (a second layer) structure, to which theexemplary embodiments of the present invention are applied.

A downlink L2 structure 500 shown in FIG. 18 includes a PDCP layer 510,an RLC layer 520, and a MAC layer 530. In FIG. 18, elements (505, 515,525, 535), each of which is denoted by a circle, for use in interfacebetween individual layers indicate a service access point (SAP) forpeer-to-peer communication. SAP between the PHY channel (not shown) andthe MAC layer provides a transport channel 535, and SAP between the MAClayer and the RLC layer provides a logical channel 525. The generaloperations of respective layers are as follows.

In the MAC layer, a plurality of logical channels (i.e., radio bearers)from the RLC layer is multiplexed. In the downlink L2 structure, aplurality of multiplexing entities 531 of the MAC layer is associatedwith application of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology. Inthe case of non-MIMO for use in a system not based on the carrieraggregation (CA) technology, one transport channel is generated bymultiplexing a plurality of logical channels, such that one hybridautomatic repeat and repeat entity (HARQ) entity (not shown) is providedto one multiplexing entity 531.

On the other hand, the eNB processor based on the CA technologygenerates a plurality of transport channels corresponding to a pluralityof CCs from one multiplexing entity 531. In association with theabove-mentioned technology, one HARQ entity 532 for use in the CAtechnology manages one CC. Therefore, the MAC layer 530 of the eNBprocessor supporting the CA technology provides a plurality of HARQentities 532 to one multiplexing entity 531, and performs associatedinformation. In addition, each HARQ entity 532 independently processes atransport block, such that it can simultaneously transmit and receive aplurality of transport blocks through a plurality of CCs.

In the uplink L2 structure 600 of FIG. 19, the remaining parts otherthan one multiplexing entity contained in one MCA layer 630 areidentical in function to those of the downlink L2 structure 500. For aplurality of CCs, a plurality of HARQ entities 632 are provided,operations related to the plurality of HARQ entities 632 are carried outin the MAC layer 630, and a plurality of transport blocks can besimultaneously transmitted and received through a plurality of CCs.

The exemplary embodiment of the present invention of the presentinvention may be implemented by various means. For example, theexemplary embodiments of the present invention embodiment of the presentinvention may be implemented by hardware, firmware, software or acombination thereof.

When the method according to the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention is implemented using hardware, one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs),digital signal processing devices (DSPDS), programmable logic devices(PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers,microprocessors, and the like may be employed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Although the above-mentioned embodiments have been disclosed on thebasis of only the 3GPP LTE mobile communication system for convenienceof description, the scope or spirit of the present invention is notlimited thereto. That is, the above-mentioned embodiments can be appliedto various mobile communication systems in which the measurementoperation for UE mobility management is used and a UE can simultaneouslyuse a plurality of CCs.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of reporting a cell measurement bya user equipment (UE) in a mobile communication system, the methodcomprising: transmitting a first measurement report for a first typeserving cell according to a reporting criterion configured in the UE;configuring a second type serving cell in addition to the first typeserving cell which is currently configured in the UE; reporting a secondmeasurement report for at least one of a plurality of serving cellsincluding a first type serving cell and a second type serving cellaccording to the reporting criterion, wherein the reporting criterioncomprises a predetermined event which is applied to the first typeserving cell only regardless of whether the second type serving cell hasbeen configured in the UE, wherein the reporting the second measurementreport comprises reporting a result of cell measurement to a basestation, if the reporting criterion of the predetermined event has beenconfigured and if the result of the cell measurement satisfies thereporting criterion of the predetermined event in which a neighbor cellmeasurement becomes offset better than a serving cell measurement whichexcludes the second type serving cell.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe reporting criterion comprises at least one event which can beapplied to both of the first type serving cell and the second typeserving cell.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type servingcell is a primary cell (PCell) which is always activated and the secondtype serving cell is a secondary cell (SCell) which is can bedeactivated.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second measurementreport contains cell ID information only if the second measurementreport is related to the second type serving cell.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the reporting criterion comprises at least one of: afirst event in which a serving cell measurement which does not excludethe second type serving cell becomes better than a first threshold; asecond event in which the serving cell measurement which does notexclude the second type serving cell becomes worse than a secondthreshold; a third event in which the neighbor cell measurement becomesbetter than a third threshold; and a fourth event in which the servingcell measurement which excludes the second type serving cell becomesworse than a fourth threshold and the neighbor cell measurement becomesbetter than a fifth threshold.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thefourth event is applied only to the first type serving cell.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving measurementconfiguration information including information on the reportingcriterion; measuring the first type serving cell or the second typeserving cell according to the received measurement configurationinformation; and checking whether a result of the measurement satisfiesthe reporting criterion.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein measurementconfiguration information includes information on a measurement objecton which the measurement to be performed, and wherein the measurementobject comprises at least one of an inter-frequency measurement and anintra-frequency measurement.
 9. A non-transitory computer readablemedium recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 1.10. A user equipment (UE) for reporting a cell measurement in a mobilecommunication system, the UE comprising: a radio frequency (RF) moduleconfigured to receive or transmit a radio frequency signal; a processoroperatively connected to the RF module and configured to: transmit afirst measurement report for a first type serving cell according to areporting criterion configured in the UE; configure a second typeserving cell in addition to the first type serving cell which iscurrently configured in the UE; and report a second measurement reportfor at least one of a first type serving cell and a second type servingcell according to the reporting criterion, wherein the reportingcriterion comprises a predetermined event which is applied to the firsttype serving cell only regardless of whether the second type servingcell has been configured in the UE, wherein the processor is configuredto report the second measurement report by reporting a result of cellmeasurement to a base station, if the reporting criterion of thepredetermined event has been configured and if the result of the cellmeasurement satisfies the reporting criterion of the predetermined eventin which a neighbor cell measurement becomes offset better than aserving cell measurement which excludes the second type serving cell.11. The UE of claim 10, wherein the reporting criterion comprises atleast one event which is available for both of the first type servingcell and the second type serving cell.
 12. The UE of claim 10, whereinthe first type serving cell is a primary cell which is always activatedand the second type serving cell is a secondary cell which is can bedeactivated.
 13. The UE of claim 10, wherein the second measurementreport contains cell ID information only if the second measurementreport is related to the second type serving cell.
 14. The UE of claim10, wherein the reporting criterion comprises at least one of: a firstevent in which a serving cell measurement which does not exclude thesecond type serving cell becomes better than a first threshold; a secondevent in which the serving cell measurement which does not exclude thesecond type serving cell becomes worse than a second threshold; a thirdevent in which the neighbor cell measurement becomes better than a thirdthreshold; and a fourth event in which the serving cell measurementwhich excludes the second type serving cell becomes worse than a fourththreshold and the neighbor cell measurement becomes better than a fifththreshold.
 15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the fourth event is appliedonly to the first type serving cell.
 16. The UE of claim 10, wherein theprocessor is further configured to: receive measurement configurationinformation including information on the reporting criterion; measurethe first type serving cell or the second type serving cell according tothe received measurement configuration information; and check whether aresult of the measurement satisfies the reporting criterion.
 17. The UEof claim 16, wherein measurement configuration information includesinformation on a measurement object on which the measurement to beperformed, and wherein the measurement object comprises at least one ofan inter-frequency measurement and an intra-frequency measurement.